Hej! (Not a typo. This translates to “hi” in Danish and Polish). The first official “big” trip of the year, yet only half of our duo was able to travel this time around. I was asked to attend a summit in Warsaw for work, so I decided to tack on a trip Copenhagen since it was en route. The travel dates happened to fall during our second year anniversary, but Matt unfortunately couldn’t join due to the late-ish notice…which means I may need to make it up to him. Anyway, considering this was a solo trip, I was unsure whether or not to write about it, but at the end of the day I think it’s beneficial to keep record of these experiences to remind my future self of all the fun times I once had during my semi-youth.
I’ll keep this short as most of my time was spent nerding out on marketing and real estate development topics/projects that other people could care less about (even though I thought it was all awesome!), but let’s get to it…
When traveling, Matt and I sometimes like to take a guided tour of whatever city we’re in to get an overview of the main sites and discover areas we’d want to revisit on our own…so on my first day in Copenhagen I took a 3 hour bike tour of the city and covered a lot of ground! Some highlights:
- The famous “Little Mermaid” statue, which was in fact, very little
- Amalienborg Palace – where Denmark’s royal family still resides
- Kastellet – a military fortress in the shape of a star (we also saw the nearby and really pretty Gefion Fountain)
- Nyhavn – the famous and picturesque canal that I would eventually frequent during my time in CPH.
- Rosenborg Castle
- *Freetown Christiania – THIS was a place that I definitely wanted to check out. It’s basically a separate community started by a group of hippies back in the 70’s that follow their own rules and regulations independent from the Danish government. The area was unreal. The streets and buildings were covered in colorful artwork, there were local food stands and open air music venues… it was a very alternative neighborhood. I received mixed messages on whether or not photography was allowed – it was forbidden a few years ago but local residents have apparently eased up as long as you ask for permission. Not wanting to take any chances, I put my phone away for once and soaked everything in organically.
I spent the remainder of my time in Copenhagen exploring the food scene, taking a stroll along “Stroget” (a pedestrian only shopping street), viewed the city atop the “Rundetaarn” (or “Round Tower”), and engaged in friendly conversation with other solo travelers at local watering holes. Walking around Tivoli at night was one thing on my to-do list that I didn’t get to do. With the sun setting around 10 pm and my body still jetlagged, I couldn’t get myself to stay awake and wait for the festive lights to come on. Perhaps I’ll have to come back with Matt and experience it during their fall/Halloween season (we’re really into Halloween).
The rest of the my time was spent in Warsaw where I met up with other marketing gurus from the company I work for (we have different business units in Europe and the Nordics). I’ve been to Poland before (see post mentioning Krakow here), but Warsaw was SO different and had its own unique charm. Despite this being a work trip, we did have time to explore some sites and get a brief history of the city. A few highlights (in addition to seeing all of our cool developments):
- Chopin (famous Polish composer) concert at Hala Koszyki – a redeveloped industrial building turned into trendy food hall
- Warsaw riverfront – this place had such a great vibe! Activated with a ton of local bars and restaurants. There were even a few places with sand where people gathered to socialize and catch some rays.
- Old Town & Castle Square – this was an area that was destroyed during WWII and reconstructed to look like its former self. Definitely a popular spot for tourists, but beautiful and fun none-the-less. Lots of open squares and plenty to do!
Alright, that’s all I’ve got. I admittedly slacked on taking photos as I’m used to having my photographer counterpart with me during travels, but oh well. Hope everyone enjoys their long 4th of July! Bye for now.
For more pictures from my trip to Denmark and Poland, check out the image gallery page or click on the link below: